(Gwendolyn Sims, Headline USA) On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. The bipartisan bill passed the House 357 to 70 to expand eligibility for the child tax credit for lower-income families.
It adjusts payments for inflation for the 2024 and 2025 filing years. In addition, it provides new income-tax rules for “residents of Taiwan” who have U.S. income sources, increases tax deductions due to “losses from natural disasters and wildfires,” and increases the “low-income housing tax credit.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., called it, “pro-growth, pro-jobs, and pro-American.”
But its critics, such as Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., warned the bill was nothing more than an expansion of welfare that would disincentivize working.
“It’s welfare by a different name. We are going to give cash payments, checks to people who don’t even pay taxes,” said Massie.
“The hard-working constituents that I represent in Kentucky are tired of getting up at 6 a.m., driving an hour or two to work, working their hind ends off to watch their neighbors collect these checks, of which there will be more of after this bill,” Massie said. “It’s just wrong.”
.@RepThomasMassie on the welfare tax bill: “There's something in this bill called ‘tax credits,’ but they're also called ‘refundable.’ So what is a refundable tax credit?
It's welfare by a different name. We are going to give cash payments, checks to people who don't even pay… pic.twitter.com/lZGZYImGus
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) January 31, 2024
Seen as an extension of the Trump-era Child Tax Credit legislation, many Republicans were quick to back it.
“Because of this bill, working parents crushed by high prices will have an easier time putting food on the table,” said Smith. “More things will be made here in America, and the nation will be more competitive with China.”
Yet, not every lawmaker agreed with Smith’s assessment of the bill’s merits. Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., the newly selected chair of the Freedom Caucus, refused to vote for the bill stating.
It “further incentives the invasion at our Southern Border by offering [illegal aliens] expanded welfare payments,” Good said.
— Congressman Bob Good (@RepBobGood) February 1, 2024
Still, other Republicans cautioned that appearing to give a win to the current Democratic president during such a hotly contested election year.
“I think passing a tax bill that makes the president look good—may allow checks before the election—means that he can be reelected, and then we won’t extend the 2017 tax cuts,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told the Washington Post just before the House vote.
Grassley promised he’d keep the Biden re-election in mind when the bill comes up for a vote in the Senate.
Pleased with its passage, Smith said, “I am eager to get this bill passed by the Senate and signed into law. Millions of working families and Main Street businesses are counting on Congress to get this done. Let’s deliver.”
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